|
-
Slow Start
- Attack and Speed are halved for 5 turns.
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Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
110
|
- |
361 |
424 |
- |
| Atk |
160
|
320 |
356 |
419 |
460 |
| Def |
110
|
230 |
256 |
319 |
350 |
| SpA |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| SpD |
110
|
230 |
256 |
319 |
350 |
| Spe |
100
|
212 |
236 |
299 |
328 |
Regigigas should be thankful that Slow Start does nothing to its impressive defenses, because that's basically all it has available to it. This set attempts to stall out the Slow Start turns by messing up the opponent. Confuse Ray forces your opponent into a difficult decision: stay in and risk hitting themselves, or switch out and let you get a free turn off your counter. Either way, you get a good chance to fire off a Thunder Wave, making stalling out Slow Start that much easier. Earthquake covers Steels and Rocks. Gengar and Mismagius are immune to Normal/Ground, and Skarmory and Bronzong laugh at the combination too, so Fire Punch helps to damage all four of them. Rock-types will wall you though. ThunderPunch hits Gyarados, who can Taunt your disruptive moves. Ice Punch hurts Garchomp, whose immunity to Thunder Wave lets him switch in quite safely.
A defensive set, this is the most "practical" option, and attempts to provide team support. Toxic helps compensate for the initially weak attacking power, so it's a good alternative to Thunder Wave. Thunder will 2HKO Skarmory and Gyarados, and also hits Gengar, hopefully paralyzing him in the process.
Getting in on Blissey is your best shot to set this up, as her Seismic Toss fails to break Regigigas' Substitute and Focus Punch has a good shot at a 2HKO. Thunder covers Skarmory and Gyarados, and the Paralysis can help to stall out Slow Start, if you're lucky. Zen Headbutt covers Gengar and provides some extra power against Heracross and some other Fighting-types.
Only 345 Attack (barring a miracle), but the movepool is good enough to support this. Earthquake and Superpower cover Rocks and Steels, with the latter also useful against Normals, like Blissey and Snorlax. Ice Punch stops Gliscor and Dragons getting in too easily. ThunderPunch hits Gyarados, or you can use Zen Headbutt to kill Gengar.
This odd-looking set does have some merit—since Slow Start leaves Regigigas' Special Attack untouched, so it can fire off attacks from a stat of 426; the lack of STAB does hurt the viability of this set though. Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice give a pseudo-BoltBeam. Earth Power is your best option against Jirachi, Metagross, Heatran, and Magnezone. Finally, Focus Blast is used mostly for Tyranitar and allows for further coverage against Heatran and Magnezone; however, it barely scratches Blissey. Focus Punch can be used in place of Focus Blast as well.
Other Options
Regigigas' movepool honestly isn't too bad, but there's nothing to really use it with. Rock Polish is available if you think outspeeding something will do you any good. Swagger can help stall to get you past the Slow Start turns, and also can work with Psych Up to steal the +2 Attack bonus. Stomp is an alright move on the Staller set for some Paraflinch and can help in stalling out the turns of Slow Start. Safeguard is another support option it can use.
Aerial Ace can hurt Heracross and Breloom, but not much else. Stone Edge can work on a Choice Band set to cover Salamence and Gyarados in a single move. Avalanche is an alternative to Ice Punch, as Regigigas usually won't mind going last. Ice Punch is more powerful against incoming enemies though. Drain Punch can 2HKO Tyranitar and Weavile, while healing Regigigas a little, but the low base power is really off putting.
EVs
As far as defensive sets go, 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD with Impish maximizes your defenses. Of course, you're free to concentrate on one defense over the other. Regigigas' Speed is not salvageable—even with max and a boosting nature, the end result is a meager 159. For the Staller set, you can max out both Attack and Speed, so in the event of surviving until Slow Start ends, Regigigas has a better chance of sweeping, although Thunder Wave negates the need for Speed EVs for the most part.
Opinion
Regigigas obviously wants to be Slaking with a different distribution (more Special Defense in exchange for less HP), but Slow Start makes Truant look as awesome as Intimidate. Although stalling for time to get rid of the effects of Slow Start may seem worthwhile to net you a sweeper with a potential for 460 Attack, the lack of recovery moves, or even Protect, makes it a daunting and often futile endeavor. Game Freak was a little too successful in keeping Regigigas from being unbalanced—indeed, it is probably unbalanced in the wrong direction.
Counters
Boosting Pokémon easily take advantage of Regigigas, using its weak turns to set up a sweep. Most sweepers can take advantage, although Thunder Wave will cripple many of them. As such, sending in Ground-types like Garchomp or Rhyperior is often the best option. Gyarados can Taunt Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray, but beware of Thunder. Heracross and Electivire can come in on Thunder Wave to activate their abilities. Although they don't enjoy Thunder Wave, Gengar and Mismagius will wall any set that relies solely on Return and Earthquake for type coverage.
If you don't want to risk your sweepers being Paralyzed, send in your tanks to set up Stealth Rock, Spikes, etc. Skarmory is a good choice as he can set up, then simply Whirlwind Regigigas out, thus causing Slow Start to reset. Like Gyarados, Skarmory should be wary of Thunder.
Dusknoir, Weezing and Spiritomb can take hits easily, and won't mind Thunder Wave much. All three can Burn Regigigas, so it will be crippled even if Slow Start ends.
